Cirrus of the Cetra
by TisforTwee
Summary: Chapter 6 is FINALLY UP! The Plot Thickens even more. When Cloud thinks that his only troubles are within himself he finds a little girl who looks like him and claims to be his daughter. Who could this girl be and where did she come from? Almost complete
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything that has to do with Final Fantasy. That would be Square Enix, not me. Trust me I would love to own some Final Fantasy characters i.e. Cloud, Zidane, Locke, Sephiroth, Rydia, Cecil, Auron etc. But that will never happen, so don't ask me to use them! Thank you 

**Cirrus of the Cetra**  
_By: GeminiRyoko_

**_Chapter 1 Reminiscing and the Mysterious Little Girl_**

_It has been exactly six years since I let you die. I stood there and let Sephiroth's sword claim you very means of existence on this decaying planet, the planet you were meant to save. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about that night…_

_I have been living my life to repent for letting you die, and I hope my efforts are pleasing you. I know you want me to forgive myself, and I do, but forgiving is far from forgetting. How can I possibly forget what Sephiroth did to you? How can I be completely sure all his remains are gone? I can't… Sometimes I wonder if what I saw of you that day in the church four years ago was actually you, or if it was an illusion I made from the memories I had of you._

Cloud stopped and sighed.

"What am I saying? This isn't what I'm trying to get at."

Cloud stood up from the grassy area he was sitting in. He looked into the still water of the pond outside of the Forgotten Capital, Aeris's grave. The last place he had actually Aeris, the last time he had her in his arms…

"I'll come back again when I figure out what I should actually say to you…" Cloud took a deep breath as he looked at the water one last time. After a short silent moment he went to his motorcycle and drove off through the deep glowing forest of the City of the Ancients.

_I still believe you'll come back when it's all over, so I will fight to the very end…_

_----------_

The sun was setting outside the metropolis of Midgar. Tifa watched from the 7th Heaven Bar as the colors in the sky turned from a light shade of blue to brilliant shades of pink yellow and purple. The locusts began to hum, signifying that the night hours were nearby. Tifa closed her eyes let out a slight sigh.

"He's been gone for a long time; I wonder when he'll return…?"

Tifa folded her arms and paced back into the bedroom looking at the picture she kept of her and Cloud by her bedside.

"He will never let the past go, so why should I even bother trying to settle down with him? It's completely hopeless; I will never be the one he truly loves."

She looked back at the fading sky; the moon was approaching, slowly emitting its nightly glow.

_Ever since she died, died in your arms, you have never been the same Cloud I once knew. Six years have passed, but you still search for her. You are always searching for a way to contact her, a way to see or touch her again. You will never give up on her. You will always search until you find her. Death is the only means of stopping you; you will just let yourself die before you let her go._

_----------_

Cloud rode his motorcycle until he entered the fields outside of the Ancient Forest. He hit the break and put his foot down, putting his head up and looking at the sky above him.

"Let's see, in Midgar it would be close to nightfall… I should get home." He told himself as he looked at his watch. "I've been gone for the full day; I'll spend the next few days with Tifa. That will put a smile on her face."

_The years go by so slowly, yet so quickly, it's like time has stopped…Do you really want me to move on? _

Just as Cloud was setting up his motorcycle to go onto the Highwind a sound of broken branches and dead leaves being stepped on came from the forest. Cloud looked behind him cautiously and they stopped.

"I guess it was just my imagination."

He turned back around, resuming the tying of the motorcycle. Then the sound came back, this time Cloud adjusted the mirror on his Motorcycle so he could se what was behind him. The bushes at the entrance of the Ancient forest moved. Cloud slowly grabbed his oversized sword and stood up. He clenched the handle in his hands and steadily went towards the bush. The sound had stopped, but he knew there was something in there. He wasn't going to risk being ambushed by a monster while he was trying to pack up.

The Bush moved again, and Cloud cautiously pushed the bush branches to the side. A little pink fuzz ball popped out of the bush slightly startling Cloud at first. Then he pushed the branches further out of curiosity.

"Kupo!" A Mog looked up into Clouds mako blue eyes.

"Jesus Christ, it's just a Mog." Cloud let the branches sling back and walked away annoyed.

A little girl who looked about five watched Cloud from afar, relived that the Chocobo haired man with the oversized sword didn't see her and didn't kill her Mog. She crawled up closer to the edge of the forest, watching Cloud pack the rest of his into the large airship. She looked at her Mog and without a sound grabbed him and held him tight. She waited a little bit and Cloud finally went into the Airship. The little girl let out a sigh and backed away until she reached a point where no one could see her, letting herself stand up.

"Mog, Mimi said before she died that somewhere out there, my real parents lived." The little girl looked up at the airship and her big blue eyes widened. "That ship and that same funny haired man with the glowing eyes were in my dream." The little girl started shaking.

"Kupo"

"No Mog, She wasn't my real mother, my real mother died when I was born and left me with Mimi, my step mother."

The little girl's eyes sparkled as she watched the ship. The door with the motorcycle was still open. She was curious to find out what this all meant. Cloud was surely in her dream, and she dreamt she had gone on the ship and flown away into the endless sky… She wondered where he was going. She always wondered that; ever since she first saw him a year ago,

"Mog, I'm going to go on that ship. My mother is talking to me again, and she's telling me to follow him. Mother is always right Mog!" The girl took in some air and made a run for the Highwind, just making it inside just before it closed up.

"Kupo"

The little girl closed the Mog's mouth and whispered, "No Mog, be quiet! I don't want him to hear us! You saw his sword…"

The airship took off into the blue abyss and set off towards the metropolis of Midgar; the city where Tifa was waiting for his return.

_----------_

It was nightfall and there was still no sign of Cloud. Tifa stood outside of what were once the Sector Seven Slums. The stars looked beautiful from where she was at, ironically six years ago she wouldn't have even seen them from where she was standing.

"Wow a lot has changed in the past six years. I remember when this pillar fell, and Cloud was so set on saving… Aeris…" The wind blew making her hair scatter and sway with it.

Just when Tifa was about to give up on the arrival of Cloud the sound of the Highwind surrounded the area. Tifa jumped in excitement, she had waited all day for his return. She ran inside and tried to occupy herself with something so it didn't look obvious that she was waiting for him all day.

"I know, I'll cook us something to eat, I'm starving!" She clicked on the stove and looked through the refrigerator for food.

Cloud landed the ship in the field outside of Midgar and locked up everything around him. He was in a daze, exhausted from his journey to Aeris's grave. His stomach growled, he hadn't had a bite to eat since he had left for the Ancient Forest. He opened the door to the pace where the motorcycle was, which startled the Mog making it jump up and run to the other side of the storage area. The little girl gasped quietly and crawled behind some boxes without being seen.

Cloud saw the Mog and approached it with one eyebrow raised. The Mog was trembling in fear trying to crawl up the wall of the ship. Cloud picked it up with one hand by the fur and looked at it in the eyes. The little girl's eyes began to water as she started to fathom about what might happen to her best friend.

"Now how and why did you get in here?" Cloud sighed.

"NO! Please! Don't hurt him!" The little girl cried coming out from behind the boxes, running toward Cloud and falling flat on her face.

"Where the Hell did you come from?" Cloud dropped the Mog and stepped toward the little girl.

"Please don't hurt me!" She sat up and began to crab walk behind her bumping into the pile of empty boxes which began to fall on top of her. "Ahhhh!" She covered her head.

Cloud gasped and jumped towards the mess that fell around the girl. He started to throw the boxes around and he saw a green light come from the little girl. He hadn't gotten a close look of her until that very moment, his eyes widened. The little girl had blonde straight hair that was held up with a pink ribbon with a green materia in it which looked exactly like the one Aeris had.

_Aeris? No it can't be…_

The little girl looked up at him with her green sparkling eyes, letting out tears that ran down her cheek. Cloud moved the last box and examined the little girl that was sitting on the floor trembling.

"Please, don't hurt me!" She cried out again.

Cloud knelt down on one knee and looked into her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Cloud looked at her with an intense serious look on his face. "Who are you and where did you come from?"

The little girl wiped her tears and stood up to meet the height of Cloud who was still kneeling. She looked into his eyes and touched his face with her little six year old hand and then her own. The little girl gasped and hugged his head.

"I have seen you in my dreams, and the voices in my head talked about you a lot to me…"

Cloud tilted his head, confused with what she was saying.

"I dreamt about a spiky haired man and the voices in my head told me that the man I saw in my dreams actually existed, and that man was my father. You must be that man."

Cloud pushed her gently out of the hug and looked at her in shock and then smiled.

"No little one, I am no father; you must be confusing me with someone else."

"No I'm sure of it; they tell me it IS you!" The little girl cried.

"Who are they?" Cloud questioned.

The Mog began to squeal again and ran outside to the field. The sound of a flying monster approached the ship and the little girl screamed.

"Mog! no come back here!" She ran out of the storage area and ran towards the flying monster to try to protect her Mog.

The Flying monster swooped at her and hit her, making her fly in the air and crash hard into the ground. Cloud ran out with his sword and watched as the little girl hit her head off the ground and laid there unconscious.

"No! Hold on I'll be right there!"

Cloud ran toward the monster and with one slash he killed it, dropping his sword after kill he ran toward the unconscious girl. He shook her to try to wake her up but nothing happened. He examined her and she was breathing, so there wasn't any major damage done to her. He lifted her up and held her tight, It felt so familiar the way he was holding her.

_She looks like her…_

_----------_

Tifa finished cooking the meal and looked at the clock while pondering where Cloud could be.

"I saw the ship over an hour ago, he should be back by now…"

Tifa wiped her hands off and started toward the front door. As she went for the handle there was a low knock on the door, like someone was knocking with their foot. She opened the door in hurriedly thinking about Cloud not having any arms and to her surprise Cloud was holding a little girl who looked like him.

"Who is that?" Tifa questioned still standing in front of the door.

"Tifa, I need a washcloth with cold water and a package of ice and fast, this girl is unconscious." Tifa moved aside with her hand over her mouth while Cloud stormed into the room. He took a few steps and looked around and quickly turned to Tifa. "Do we have any spare beds?"

"Yes I will make one up for her!" Tifa bolted into one of the bedrooms followed by Cloud.

Tifa rushed in and out of the rooms of the orphanage grabbing wash cloths and a bucket of cold water. Cloud set her in the bed putting the wet washcloth over her forehead. Tifa rushed in with the ice pack and Cloud removed the washcloth and put the ice on the area of her head that was swelling. Tifa went on the other side of the bed and took her pulse, she was normal.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Tifa said with much concern.

"Yeah, she'll be waking up any minute now…" Cloud removed the ice and the little girl's eyes opened.

"Where am I?" The girl sat up and put her hand on her head. "Ouch it hurts."

"You're in a safe place" Tifa answered.

"A safe place… wait where did he go?" The girl cried.

"Who?"

"I'm right here?" Cloud stood up.

The little girl blinked and smiled. Rubbing her eyes and grabbing the sheet under her. "You saved me, thank you! I know now that you have to be my dad, they said he was very strong, and you are very strong." The girl looked at him with a look of precision.

Tifa's eyes widened.

"D...D…Dad…Cloud?" Tifa looked at Cloud in shock.

"Tifa she has me confused with someone else. You know I wouldn't do something like that."

"Who are you, and where did you come from little girl?" Tifa took her small hand and held it in hers.

The girl looked at Tifa and then Cloud and then back to Tifa.

"My name is Cirrus."

"Cirrus? Like a Cirrus cloud?" Tifa questioned and eyed Cloud who was in disbelief. Cirrus nodded.

Tifa stood up and walked out of the room, not even looking at Cloud as she passed him. Cloud stood there in total disbelief as the girl that claimed to be his daughter looked up at him with her brilliant green eyes, the same eyes that _she _had…

"Look I don't know where you came from or why you think I'm your father… Which I'm not… But I'll try to help you find your real father. Until then you can stay here, and make yourself at home. That bump on your head must hurt, so get some rest." Cloud turned around and started out of the room.

"My mother misses you, too bad she cannot talk to you like she talks to me right now…"

Cloud stopped in the doorway and turned his head a little bit, trying to consume what he just heard. He shook his head and continued walking. Cirrus pulled the sheet over her body and fell asleep for the night.

Cloud closed the door quietly and headed to what was looking like a huge argument between Tifa and himself.

_It's impossible, she cannot be my daughter. The only person I could have had that little girl with was… Its impossible, it's one big huge mistake… It has to be._

_----------_

a/n: Long time no write. I had this idea and I had to write it. Sorry if this is boring so far, it will get better. I meant to write more but I wanted to leave of with some sort of cliff hanger, and I din't want to give away the whole plot in the first chapter. Yes the intro was a bit lengthy. Anyway…

Is it possible that Cloud is the father of this child? If so is the mother who we all think it is? Is that even a possibility? How is Tifa going to react to this? Stay tuned to find out :P.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 alright. Some lines in this are from the videogame and the movie, but I don't own them!

**Cirrus of the Cetra**

By: SpikeStutters (aka GeminiRyoko)

**Chapter 2: Knowledge is Power**

Cloud walked cautiously into the kitchen where Tifa was. The sound of the gas stove turning on calmed him down a bit. _She must be making coffee or something…_ He turned the corner to find Tifa looking through the sake she had behind the counter.

"What thinking about having a drink?" Cloud leaned against the wall "That doesn't explain why you're boiling water…"

"One of the orphans is sick and can't fall asleep, so I'm making her some soup." Tifa paused, "I'm just making sure that we have enough sake to open up the bar tomorrow, although I really wouldn't mind having one right now…"

"Look, Tifa it can't be mine, we both know that."

"No I don't know that Cloud… But I trust that you wouldn't go around sleeping with other girls, so I hope that's not the case." Tifa put the chicken broth in the boiling water and stirred it.

"Tifa, you know very well where I go when I go out and…" Cloud stopped and realized what he was about to say and let his head fall, letting out a small sigh. "I'm sorry Tifa, I must be worrying you, a lot, and I apologize for that. It's just…"

"Just stop…"

Her shoulders rose up and she used the rest of her energy to hold back from crying. She put the stirring spoon down next the stove and turned around, putting both of her arms on the counter behind her. Cloud looked up at her wit ha gloomy tired face.

"Look, Cloud I know that you want her to come back, and trust me I would like to see her again also…but Cloud, six years have gone by since she had died and there has not been any trace of her."

Cloud looked back at the ground and looked at the palms of his hands.

"If Sephiroth was able to come back so easily, then there has to be a way to bring her back also."

"Cloud you need to live in the present, not the past." Tifa blurted out, trying to refrain from crying. She let out a quick sigh and resumed cooking the soup, this time adding straight noodles and chicken pieces to the concoction. "Plus we have that girl here that claims to be your daughter…we need to figure out who she is and why she thinks that."

"Tifa, I'm not her father! And plus neither of us are scientists so we can't determine that anyway.

"Wrong!" Tifa turned her head around quickly with a grin on her face. "Actually you're right about us not being one, but we have friends that are smart enough with the knowledge of this planet to figure out what's going on here."

"Red and Vincent…" Cloud whispered.

"I'll call them over tomorrow and they'll examine the situation." Tifa poured her home made chicken noodle soup into a bowl and put it on a tray with a large glass of water and walked past Cloud and towards the sick girl's room. "Cloud get some sleep, there's no need to worry over this since we can't get any answers tonight anyway. Plus the girl will get along well with the other orphans here, so might as well keep her until we get some answers."

"And who said we weren't going to do that anyway?" Cloud turned towards her and sighed. He looked out the window at the dark night sky. Tomorrow would be the day he got some answers.

----------

_Cloud... I'm searching for you._

_I want to meet you._

"_But I'm right here."_

_(I know, I know... what I mean is...) I want to meet... you._

_Aeris… are you real?_

_Cloud…_

_I'm Sorry Aeris, I couldn't save you… I failed to protect you…Please forgive me. _

_I never blamed you, not once. You came for me, that's all that matters…_

Cloud woke up in a cold sweat. The voice in his head felt so real, like she was right near his bed whispering in his ear. Her voice kept echoing though his head. He grabbed the sheets tight with both of his hands and looked outside. He sighed and got out of bed, opening the window to let some fresh air in. Outside there was a cool breeze which came through the window, sending chills down Cloud's spine. He put his hands in his pocket and found the materia Cirrus had in her hair before the monster attacked her. He held up the bluish green materia to the moon and it sparkled with the moons glow. It looked exactly like the one that Aeris had, the one that dropped into the water after Sephiroth's masamune went through her delicate body killing her. He sat on the window sill and held it between his fingers as he looked up at fading dark sky.

----------

_The memories we had together keep running through my mind…_

_How could I forget about you?_

_The life we could have had together…_

_Forgetting would be ignorance to my very existence…_

_Because…_

_You saved my life…_

_Why couldn't I save yours?_

Cloud sat there the rest of the night wide eyed, not being able to fall asleep. The night that felt like an eternity had passed and the sun began emit its light from the horizon. Cloud sat up ands held his head, he had a headache. Too much had happened in the past twenty four hours for his mind to handle all at once. There was a knock at the front door of the orphanage. Cloud leaned over his bed and looked out of his bedroom at the wall that was right in front of his room.

"Oh, Vincent and Red thank you for coming on such short notice. You see we have a little problem right now and Cloud and I were wondering if you could investigate and give us some answers."

Everyone's voice began to ring in Clouds ears as he listened to the three of them converse.

"I need to calm down." He threw his covers to the side and walked to the bathroom, holding his head in pain.

"Ah I see, so there's a little girl that claims to be the daughter of Cloud…" Red sat on the floor and scratched himself. "Did you talk to him about it?"

"Yes, I talked to him about it last night. I had to believe him because the only place he has been going to is…"

"Aeris's grave…" Vincent interrupted.

"Yes, you've seen him?" Tifa looked over at him.

Vincent nodded.

"All he has on his mind is her, and I doubt he would go out sleeping with other girls when he feels so guilty for her death."

"Pretty good point Tifa." Red stated.

Cloud turned on the cold water and let it fill up in his hands. He looked at his reflection, which looked pitiful because of the lack of sleep he had been getting lately, he almost looked deathly ill. He began to splash the cold water on his face, trying to forget about his inner mind and self. He really needed to know what was going on with Cirrus.

"Well can I see the girl?" Vincent demanded

"Yes, I'll go get her. I think she's off playing with the other kids that live here."

Tifa walked out to the room where all the kids hung out, and to her surprise Cloud was watching them.

"What are you doing over here? Don't you want to find out what's going on?"

"You know, she seems to be getting along with the other orphans perfectly." Cloud stared off at the kids who were surrounded by Cirrus; she was in fact the center of attention.

"Cirrus, there are some people that want to see you!" Tifa shouted.

"Hey everyone, I'll be back later!" Cirrus ran to Tifa. "Who's here?"

----------

Cloud, Tifa and Red waited in the living room patiently while Vincent examined Cirrus in the other room. Tifa leaned against the wall closest to Cirrus's room with her arms crossed looking at her feet.

"So Red, what do you think about this?" Cloud looked over at the red fluff sitting on the ground near the kitchen table.

Red closed his eyes, "I need to know more info before I start making assumptions Cloud." He opened his eyes and looked at Tifa. "Is it really possible that this is your kid, or is it a huge misunderstanding?"

"I don't know Red, her name IS Cirrus and that is a type of a Cloud…" Tifa remarked.

"Tifa, that doesn't mean anything!" Cloud said in confidence.

Both Red and Tifa looked straight at Cloud.

"Tifa I can assure you I haven't been going behind your back, I wouldn't do that…"

Vincent then came out of Cirrus's room followed by Cirrus running back towards where the other orphans were.

"So, did you find anything out?" Tifa stepped forward.

"Yeah, you all might want to sit down for this one…"

Everyone sat where they were standing, right on the kitchen floor.

"Cloud, Cirrus is in fact your child…" Vincent crossed his arms. Tifa put her hands over her face and Red began to think.

"Tifa, I'm not lying to you… Believe me!"

"Then how do you explain that child over there?" Tifa cried, "Whos the mother Vincent?"

"That's the part I don't know." Vincent paused. "You I got Cloud's part from a strand of her hair, but the other part is unidentified." Vincent headed toward the door. "I'll contact you when I finish my research."

The door closed and all eyes were now on Cloud, who was just as clueless as everyone else.

"Cloud, now is the time to fess up…" Tifa stood up.

Cloud stood up and put his back on a nearby wall.

"The only person it could have been was Aeris…" Cloud answered, "The night before we went to the Gold Saucer we went on a date." Cloud Puased and looked at everyone's shocked faces. "Everything was going well when we were out until Cait Sith stole the Keystone. After he told us everything and told us we couldn't do a thing about it Aeris and I went back to the hotel. I escorted her back to her room and she grabbed me and we were hugging for a short time." Cloud closed his eyes as if it was painful thinking about the last good memory he had with her. "And we both leaned in and kissed each other, and this was a long passionate kiss. We both looked at each other again and I said 'I don't want this date to be over Aeris...' and she said 'Cloud I…' and I held her tight and whispered in her ear…."

_I love you… _

_That's what I said to her_

_I can't tell Tifa I said that…_

Red and Tifa's eyes were attached to Cloud; Tifa being in complete shock, and Red wanted to hear the juicy details like it was some erotic story.

"And the rest is your best guess…" Cloud opened his eyes and looked at Tifa. "And that was the last time I did that sort of thing… So it would have to be hers…"

"Wait a second, that's impossible, she's…"

Cloud interrupted Tifa, "Yes I know she's dead, and it's impossible for a dead person to have a child so I don't know."

"Wrong." Red stated and both Cloud and Tifa looked at him in complete awe. "I read somewhere in my grandpa's library, it called Mysteries of the Cetra…"

"Red what are you trying to get to?" Tifa asked slowly.

"Woah, let me finish before you ask questions… Ahem, now this one passage says that: 'If an Ancient dies while they are impregnated with a child, the soul will wonder until that child is born'." Red paused, " But there was also another passage that stated: 'If the Cetra is carrying a child that child will also return to the lifestream with its mother unless there is a crisis, then and only then will the soul carry out the deed of having that child so that child can prevent the world form destruction.' I quote…"

"So let me get this straight, you're telling me that her soul roamed the planet until she was able to have her child?" Cloud asked in disbelief.

"Something like that…" Red answered.

Tifa sat in the chair quietly listening to the two friends talk to one another.

"There's more Cloud, which might contribute to the answers you need." Red smirked while Cloud looked at him with a questionable look. "There was an article in the paper the other day, I don't know if you saw it, but they discovered another entity frozen in the lifestream, now who do you think that is?"

"Aeris…?" Cloud's eyes widened.

"So I'm thinking that's where her soul had stopped and that is why Cirrus had the Holy materia, because Aeris wanted to protect her daughter while she sent her off to the village in the snowy mountains."

Cloud stood still, "How did you know she had the Holy materia?"

"Cloud, you held that glowing turquoise orb in your hand while we were waiting for Vincent's results!" Tifa added after not speaking for a long time.

"So Aeris's body is out there somewhere… Did the article tell you where it was?"

"Nope, the article had no location on it, sorry Cloud." Red sighed.

"Wait, you're not planning on looking for this corpse, are you?" Tifa stood up.

"It's the only way I can find answers about this child Tifa. Maybe if I go to her she can tell me something, maybe she can tell me what I need to know… Maybe I can bring her back!"

"Cloud, forget it you know she's gone for good… She wouldn't want you risking you're life for a hopeless cause!" Tifa yelled trying to put some reasoning into him.

"Tifa…"

Tifa fell to the ground, "I wouldn't want you risking your life if I died instead of her…" Tifa looked up at him teary eyed. "If I died would you try to bring me back?"

Cloud's eyes widened and he gasped. He closed his eyes and stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to do.

"Tifa this isn't the time for this…" Red walked over to her.

Cloud faced the other direction.

"You wouldn't would you?" Tifa put her hands fat on the ground and forced her weight on them.

He began to walk away. "Tifa, you should know better than to think like that. I promised you that if you were ever in trouble I would save you…"

Tifa looked up at him and sat up, the tears stopped coming out and she calmed down.

"So don't think that way…" Cloud walked into his room and locked the door. He didn't want to be bothered with things that hadn't even happened, he needed to think, or sleep, or something. He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes; slowly drifting into a trace.

----------

_Does she love me too? I never got a response from her that night. It was as if she knew what was to come. Was it out of pity because she knew I cared about her? No the look was in her eyes she; she didn't do it out of pity, I saw the love in her eyes…But what if that wasn't love? She never did say it back that night, even when we just held each other; she just talked about her childhood and her memories of her mother. She talked as though that the next day would have been our last together. I wish I knew; I miss her._

_Tifa… I wish she wasn't jealous of her… _

Cloud woke up peacefully this time, even though he wasn't really sleeping. Red had gone home for the night. It must have been about midnight. Tifa was in bed, he could tell by the silence of the rooms in the 7th Heaven. He quietly got out of bed and opened the door. The halls were dark, no one was awake. Cloud knew he had to go find Aeris's frozen body, it was the only way he would get the answers he needed. He walked out in the hallway and peeked into Tifa's room. She was sound asleep, in a deep trance, hopefully having a good dream. He leaned over to her bed and whispered in her ear.

"Tifa, I care about you a lot, and that's why I'm leaving here without you…" Cloud stood up and walked away, closing the door silently.

Tifa opened her eyes and blinked a few times, and then fell back asleep.

Cloud's next stop was Cirrus's room; he went in and sat on her bed. She was resting peacefully, a smile on her face knowing that she had found her real father. He ran his fingers through her long blonde hair.

"Aeris has to be your mother, I will find her, and give you answers when I come back…" Cloud sighed and walked out of the room, using the same procedure as he did in Tifa's room.

Cloud packed his things inside the single rider Highwind and got ready to set off for another epic adventure, only this time it would be himself. He wouldn't get anyone else involved this time. He went back to the city for a brief period of time. He looked up at the orphanage, particularly where Cirrus's room was.

"Tifa, please take care of my daughter… I don't want to lose her like I lost Aeris..." Cloud ran off to the outer world, in hope of finding answers and to return to his daughter soon.

Cloud sat in the driver's seat of the single rider Highwind; the engine roared as he turned the key to turn it on. The single rider Highwind rose into the air, and set off to the snowy continent, the first place he would look for the remains of Aeris.

---------

_I hope that wasn't cheesy or anything. Sorry that chapter took so long. I hate getting writers block in the middle of a chapter. Anyway Stay tuned for the next chapter! _

_-SpikeStutters_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of the characters of FF7. So don't ask me to use them!

**Cirrus of the Cetra**

By: SpikeStutters

**Chapter 3: The Summon of Evil**

"Damnit Cloud, why did you have to leave without me!?" Tifa paced around the room looking out the window.

Cirrus stood there watching her pace back and fourth. She was sitting at the dining room table eating some cereal for breakfast.

"So where did my daddy go?" Cirrus smiled

Tifa stopped pacing. She was determined to prove that this was all a huge misunderstanding. There was no way this could all be possible.

"How are you so sure that Cloud is your 'father'" Tifa sat in the seat across from Cirrus.

She looked down at her cereal, fiddling around with the remaining pieces of grain floating in the milk. A sad look came over her face as she stared at the milk. "I hear voices that tell me he is my daddy…"

Tifa glared at her.

Cirrus looked up. "And I saw him in my dreams! He has to be my father. Mimi said I would find my father somewhere out in the world, and that has to be him!"

"Wait, who's Mimi?" Tifa stopped glaring at her; she was fascinated with where this was going and how much information could come out of it.

"Mimi is my Mimi; she's like a mommy because she took care of me ever since she found me when I was a little baby."

"Tell me more about this 'Mimi' person" Tifa put her elbows on the table and held her head up.

----------

Cloud arrived at the snowy continent sooner than expected. He parked the single rider Highwind and jumped out. He had everything he needed equipped, jut in case something evil was lurking.

"The entity has to be in the Forgotten City. I can feel a presence of something that wasn't here before."

Cloud walked into the forgotten forest, the forest recognized the Lunar Harp immediately and let him through without hesitation. It seemed as though the monsters gradually lowered in numbers since he had defeated Sephiroth seven years ago. It had seemed like only yesterday that he was looking for Aeris in the Forgotten City, yet it had seemed like an eternity since he had seen her last.

He sighed. "Half of me hopes I find some sort of remains of her… On the other hand" Cloud stopped at the edge of the cliff to look at the city from above "I wish she were still alive…" He ran down the hill to the Forgotten City. He could feel a strange essence coming from the city, but he did not know how to define it.

He wanted to see her again, but he didn't know if he could handle seeing her lifeless body frozen. What would he do? Would he shatter the ice and hold her again? Would she be revived? Cloud entered the forest in the city. This was a vast forest, but the vibe was surely coming from inside of it. He was willing to search night and day for this, he needed answers… now.

----------

"My Mimi told me before she died that she had found me in the City of the Ancients. I was a really little baby back then, and she told me there was a note attached to where I was." Cirrus started to explain.

"A note? Do you have this note?" Tifa asked'

"Yes I keep it on me all the time. I looked at it in hopes of finding my father soon. Whenever I almost gave up hope, this letter told me that somewhere out there, someone would care about me. No matter how alone I was." Cirrus held out the note

Tifa snatched the note out of her hands with almost too much force. The note read…

_I pray that someone finds this child, for the sake of the planet. _

_Please, whoever is reading this make sure you take her in and take good care of her; she is a very special child. By the time you find this child, I, being the mother, will be long gone and part of the Lifesteam. I know her father is out there somewhere, so tell her that somewhere out there her father, Cloud Strife, will take her in and protect her…_

Tifa read the note over and over, and she looked at Cloud's name on the letter as if it had flew out of the page and grabbed poked her in the eyes. At times she didn't believe that It said his name. Who could have written this? Did Aeris write this as she was "wondering?" Or did she wonder at all? Or did she write it before her death?

Tifa laughed and put her head on the table "I don't even know if you are Aeris's daughter."

"Kupo" A noise came from the other room and suddenly got louder and closer.

"Mog!" Cirrus picked him up from under the table. "I love Mog, he was there when Mimi died, and he took care of me in the City of the ancients."

"You mean you were alone for some time?" Tifa picked her head up, she was a bit concerned.

"No, I had Mog and his family to take care of me. We played all the time in the Forgotten Forest, the 'Forgotten City.' His family taught me a lot. I even learn how to speak Mog!" Cirrus laughed. "You see when Mimi died, I ran away from home. Then I got lost in the forest, and I got attacked by a scary monster. Mog came to the rescue and saved me! I love him so much."

"Did your Mimi ever tell you where exactly she found you?"

"Yeah, she found me in the Forest in the City of the Ancients…From what she told me, it was deep within that forest."

The front door the Seventh Heaven opened and Red came through the door.

"We're not open right now, come back tonight!" Tifa yelled.

"I'm not a customer, maybe you should look before you speak…"

"Oh…" Tifa looked behind her "Hey Red."

"Tifa, Vincent and I found some really interesting things about Cirrus that you might be interested in. I think you should come with me." Red turned back to go out the door.

"What is it?" Tifa left Cirrus at the table alone, and the rest of the orphans alone at the bar as well. "Keep the door locked…" She told Cirrus as she grabbed the keys and left.

Tifa shut the door and followed Red to a laboratory near by. "Red, tell me what's wrong. From seriousness in your eyes I can tell this is not any good news."

They arrived at the lab. Red had remained silent until Vincent met up with them.

"Vincent, tell me what is going on." Tifa demanded.

"We found out that Cirrus not only holds the Holy Materia Aeris once wore in her hair, but she also possesses the Black Materia as well."

Tifa's jaw dropped. And then she started to laugh. "Wow real funny guys, you really had me believing that for a second. We all know the Black Materia was destroyed with Meteor when Sephiroth was destroyed. There is no existence of anything of the sort anymore."

Red and Vincent looked at her with all seriousness. "Tifa this is no joke…"

"What, next you're going to tell me she can summon meteor at will!?" She continued laughing. Red and Vincent were completely silent. Tifa stopped laughing and her heart skipped a beat. "You guys are serious… aren't you?"

"We wouldn't bring you here if we weren't. Come look at this data." Red led Tifa to research area.

"So what does this all mean?" Tifa was getting a little freaked.

"We're thinking, maybe Cloud is not the father of this child. Maybe this child came from…"

"Sephiroth…" Tifa whispered, "But how? How is that possible?"

"Sephiroth is known to do many things like this. Remember when he controlled Cloud and made him believe he was a Mako puppet?" Vincent paused, "Tifa he could have screwed with the DNA of this child, and she could be a clone of Sephiroth with the genetics of Cloud."

"But that still doesn't explain the Holy Materia she wore…" Tifa stated

Red and Vincent looked at each other, anything was possible at this point. Tifa thought about everything and one question came to her mind. Something wasn't making sense.

"So where is this Black Materia? Maybe we can get it off of her and destroy it… again."

"That's the thing Tifa, she is the Black Materia. The only way to get rid of it is if we killed her…" Vincent answered, being completely indifferent about it.

"Woah, wait a second here!" Tifa shouted. "Even if what you say is true, Cirrus is a child, she is a human being like the rest of us. I've talked with her, a lot recently, and she is a sweet young girl."

"Tifa, I have no problem destroying her if the fate of our planet depends on it." Vincent argued.

"She told me before you came that all she ever really wanted was to find her father…" She paused. "I have a written note she was holding with her."

Tifa took out the note and read it over again. Vincent came over to see the written letter. "Can I examine this?"

She gave it to Vincent and he read it over a couple of times. "How do we know this wasn't written by Sephiroth himself?"

"Yeah Tifa, he could have created her while he was in the Crater. He had plenty of time to do so while we were looking for Cloud and the Huge Materia."

"I still can't believe she would be evil like that. I need to spend more time with her!"

"Tifa, we need to destroy her…" Red said bluntly.

"We don't even know if your research is correct!" Tifa started to walk out.

"Tifa, don't you leave yet!" Red ran to her.

She turned around quickly, "I PROMISED I would take care of Cirrus while Cloud was gone. He doesn't want to lose her like he lost Aeris! If protecting her means protecting her from you, then so be it!" Tifa stomped out the door way and slammed the door.

"For the planet's sake, I hope she's right" Vincent sighed.

"Tifa…" Red whispered.

----------

Cloud searched and searched around the forest, but there was no sign of a frozen entity. He wasn't about to give up, but he was sure hungry and tired. He sat down where he was at and leaned against a tree. He opened a bad f food and began to eat his lunch.

"Maybe I should go back for Tifa, she would be able to help me find this entity." He stopped chewing.

_I know its here, I can feel it… But where is it? _

He continued eating, he looked around the area he was. The animals were running all over the place, like they were running away from something. Cloud put away his food and took out his sword. He went in the direction of where all the animals were coming from, his vibe kept getting stronger and stronger. There was something near by, he could feel it. The holy material he had in his pocket began to glow. Cloud stopped and searched for the light green orb. He examined it, it was glowing a different glow from when Aeris had prayed for Holy to defeat Meteor.

"Is it possible that the planet is facing danger again?"

Cloud kept walking and he stumbled across an open area. The Holy Materia was glowing even more. Something was here, something that did not belong. Cloud held up the Holy Materia and to his surprise the glow formed all around the area. The earth began to shake, lightning came from the sky, the birds flew in all different directions; Cloud braced himself.

"I haven't felt this kid of presence since Sephiroth! Could it be??" Cloud put away the Materia and got ready to fight.

The earth started shaking more and a silhouette of a massive crystal appeared. Cloud didn't know what to think. Was Sephiroth going to appear again? The crystal took its shape and completely appeared. The Earth stopped shaking, the lightning completely stopped, and everything grew calm again. Cloud had found the frozen entity, but there was nothing in it. Nothing, it was only a large crystal of ice. Cloud went up to it and put his hand on it.

"What does this mean?"

----------

Tifa opened the door to The Seventh Heaven Bar, and everything was silent. She closed the door and leaned on it looking straight ahead.

_She can't be evil. There has to be another explanation…_

Tifa began to wonder why there was complete silence. She walked to the area where the rooms were and everywhere was empty. Tifa started to get worried. It was quiet, too quiet. Usually there was the sound of kids talking and playing, but there was none of that. She went into the social room and the door was locked.

"What is this? It is never locked!?" Tifa got ready to face danger. "Open up this door right now!"

Tifa began to kick the door. Her limit was going off and she used a chain of attacks to bring down the heavy door. The door flew across the room and her eyes widened. She walked in the room with her jaw dropped as far as it would go. All the children were in a deep sleep… and they were… floating in the air?

"What in the world?" Tifa looked around.

"Something big is coming…" A little voice came from behind her.

Tifa turned around and saw Cirrus standing in front of the window. She ran over and grabbed Cirrus, trying to turn her around, but she wouldn't budge. Tifa leaned down and looked at Cirrus's face. She was in a complete trance, her eyes were glowing a red color.

"Cirrus, snap out of it!" Tifa tried shaking her.

Cirrus's eyes widened and her iris and pupils disappeared completely, all that was left was white in her eyes. Tifa gasped. She kept on shaking Cirrus. "Come on Cirrus, what are you doing! WAKE UP!" The earth then began to shake and Tifa hit the floor with her back hard.

She held in her cries of pain and got her self to a half sitting position. To her surprise Cirrus was floating in the air, still fixed on looking out the window. Tifa began to tremble, her mouth half open, not knowing what to do or expect.

Cloud could feel the earth shaking again also, but it was coming from a distance. Some where far, like Midgar. Cloud turned around and grabbed his possessions he left on the ground. He stopped for a second to look back at the crystal, and then ran for the single rider Highwind.

"Tifa hold on I'm coming!" Cloud started the highwind up and rose to the air.

Tifa managed to stand up by leaning against the wall. The earth under Midgar was shaking like crazy. She managed to reach the window and she looked out. Tifa gasped and accidentally let go of the wall and fell back on the ground. Tifa continued to tremble, this time even more. She could not believe what she was seeing.

"W…W…Why is Diamond Weapon appearing!?" Tifa screamed.

The earth stopped shaking so much and Diamond Weapon was coming toward Midgar once again. Cirrus fell to the ground unconscious, unaware of what just happened. Tifa went to her and held her. She looked back out the window; she didn't know how she would stop it without Cloud. She needed Cloud and she needed him fast.

"Cirrus wake up!" Tifa cried. "Err. Where is Cloud when I need him!?"

----------

_a/n: Wow, sorry this took so long to come out. I've been at college, and I have had NO free time. I didn't realize how popular this story was. Anyway the next update will be this week. So look for it. I'm glad you are all enjoying this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I really hope you like the next few chapters to come. _

_I have the rest of the story figured out. When I first made this is was unsure what I was going to do with it, but now I am completely sure. _

_Look for chapter 4 soon :P_

_SpikeStutters_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own FF7

**Cirrus of the Cetra**

By: SpikeStutters

**Chapter 4: The Battle against Diamond Weapon**

Tifa held Cirrus as she watched in terror as Diamond Weapon approached Midgar. Cirrus was completely unconscious, but she was alive and breathing. Tifa picked her up and carried her to a bed.

"Cirrus you need to wake up… please…" Tifa stood up. "Somebody needs to take care of Diamond Weapon or else the whole city of Midgar will be destroyed… I'm sorry Cloud; I need to leave her here."

Tifa ran outside and braced herself. She equipped her Premium Heart fists and ran toward Diamond Weapon. It had been so long since she fought something this huge, she thought to herself, would she be able to fight it the way she was now?

"Tifa!" A voice came from behind her.

Tifa turned around and she was half surprised to see Vincent and Red right behind her.

"Red… Vincent…"

"You don't really think we would make you fight this alone do you?" Red stopped beside her.

"No, I knew you would come and aid me." Tifa smiled

A large airship flew above them and the rest of the team was in there, all except for Cloud. The team on the ground nodded and ran toward the edge of the city where Diamond was approaching.

The Airship landed outside of the city and everyone got together near while it had landed.

"Where the hell is Cloud?" Barret asked Tifa

"I'm sure he'll be here." Tifa sighed, getting ready for battle.

"An even better question is, where the hell did this thing come from!?" Cid asked.

Tifa remained silent.

"Who cares where it came from, we need to kill it!" Red commanded as he ran toward the mighty weapon.

Cloud was approaching on his airship, going as fast as he possibly could. He could see Diamond in the distance, but he was still very far away from Midgar.

"Diamond Weapon is massive!" Cloud tried to speed up the Single Rider Highwind, but it was going as fast as it could go. He was still miles away; he hoped Tifa would be alright until he got there.

The team surrounded Diamond Weapon and began their battle with it. To everyone's surprise, the massive tool kept walking toward Midgar. Barret aimed his weapon, The Missing Score, at Weapon's face. Nothing seemed to be affecting the large enemy.

"Its like it's immune to our weapons!" Yuffie yelled out.

"This one is definitely stronger than the one we fought six years ago!" Tifa remarked.

"Or maybe we're just not strong enough anymore!" Cid added.

Red, who was holding Cait Sith, grabbed onto the side of Weapon's leg and began to struggle up the side of him. Yuffie aimed her Conformer at Weapon's face.

"Barret, Vincent, lets try to double team him with our attacks!"

Yuffie, Vincent, and Barret attacked Weapon's face with their weapons; Red continued to climb up the monster. Tifa stood behind Yuffie and equipped some material onto her bangle.

Yuffie Giggled "_Maybe this monster carries some super rare materia!" _

"What are you laughing about!?" Barret yelled.

"Oh nothing, just thinking about how we're going to annihilate this thing…"

"Does it look like we're annihilating it? Barret continued.

Cid remained on the Highwind; he knew that if he could get the laser weapons on it working they would have a good shot at beating Weapon.

"Charge the plasma cannons!" Cid commanded

Red got to the top of Weapon and looked it right in the face. Cait Sith took out his ultimate Megaphone, HP Shout, and used it right on Diamond's face. Everyone stopped what they were doing, the sound was piercing. Red nearly fell off Weapon when hearing the sound; he held onto the side with all his might.

Finally Diamond weapon stopped walking and took aim to the whole team. Red started to attack its face multiple times in a row, which seemed to do a heavy amount of damage.

"Yeah, you've got it Red!" Tifa shouted and excitement filled within her. "Maybe we don't need cloud after all!"

Red kept attacking Weapon's face, and it seemed to be going down in health. Finally Diamond too his large arm and hit Red with it. Red flew off of Diamond unconscious and hard onto the ground. Everyone gasped, Cait Sith slipped down Weapon and went to aid Red. Weapon was getting ready to shoot at everyone on the ground with a massive laser that was going to come out of its mouth.

Tifa got in front of everyone and summoned the spell Ultima out of the material she equipped. Everything around Weapon turned green and Weapon got hit pretty crucially with it. Barret, Yuffie, and Vincent continued shooting at his head. Diamond opened its mouth and multiple laser beams came out of it, all of them hitting the area where Barret Yuffie and Vincent were. They all flew up in the air and hit the ground hard. Yuffie sat up in pain, Barret and Vincent stood up and defended in place.

Red became aware again but was in too much pain to move from his spot. Cait Sith tried to aid Red with his injuries. Tifa stood in place, her limit was full. She began to run toward Diamond, ready to use her limit break.

"Tifa no!" Barret reached out for her.

Tifa kept running towards Diamond, and Barret chased after her. Before Tifa could even reach Diamond, and before Barret could stop her from getting close to it, Tifa was grabbed by one of Diamond's massive hands and brought up to eye level. Tifa squirmed in pain and tried to get herself free, but she was completely stuck. She felt like a moron.

"Guys Tifa is up there, we need to get 'er down from there" Barret screamed out to the rest of the team.

Barret, Yuffie, and Vincent aimed at its massive arm and shot their weapons at it. Cid continued to chare the cannons, they were only half full at this point and they needed to be at 75 percent to get a half decent shot out of them. The cannons had a much better chance at 100 percent, but they were running out of time.

"Tifa hold on!" Cid screamed out.

Tifa tried to get herself loose, but its hand wasn't budging at all. Once again she had managed to put herself into danger, and this time Cloud wasn't there to save her from it. She needed to get free herself. She could do it; she escaped death before in her life. Diamond brought Tifa closer to its face and began charging one of its own lasers. Tifa tried even harder to get away.

"No, please… I want… to live!"

Tifa felt herself being squeezed even more by the Weapon's hand, all her bones were about to get crushed at once. All she could think about was how she had failed Cloud, how she failed to protect Midgar, and soon she would have failed protecting Cirrus.

Cirrus… Was she really Aeris's child? Cloud truly loved Aeris, not her. Should she even bother trying to get away…? Or should she let herself die? She closed her eyes. Maybe it was for the best. She thought to herself. Would Cloud mourn over her death as much as he mourns over Aeris? Tears began to fall from her face.

"I bet if he could trade me for her… He would!" Tifa cried out "Cloud I'm sorry!"

Tifa opened her eyes and she could see the laser that was about to obliterate her, Incinerate her into a million particles. There would be nothing left, nothing to mourn over, nothing to remember, nothing to se after she is gone. This was the end for her, she had accepted it.

The beam started to become more apparent and Diamond was ready to shoot at her. It went into attack mode and Tifa thought her life was over. She heard the blast and closed her eyes. She heard screaming, or was it cheering? She couldn't tell. She didn't feel any pain, yet she felt like she was flying through they air on someone's arms. She opened her eyes, and then she gasped.

"Looks like I came just in time!"

Tifa smiled and tears began to fall out of her eyes. She hugged him with all the might she had left in her body. "Cloud you came!" Tifa whispered.

Cloud had sacrificed his airship and jumped out to save her. The airship had crashed and they landed on the ground with ease.

"Thank you for keeping everything in line while I was gone." Cloud smiled "You don't have to worry; I'll make sure this piece of junk never comes back."

Cloud laid her on the ground and took out his Ultima Weapon. Cloud smiled at Tifa and turned around. His face went from a smile to a fierce battle look. He braced himself and got ready to use his ultimate attack, Omnislash. He ran toward Diamond Weapon.

"Who the hell does he think he is? If all of us couldn't beat this, how does he think he will?" Barret yelled out

"Barret, you should know Cloud by now." Tifa stood up holding her right arm. "If anyone can beat it, it is Cloud."

Diamond tried to grab Cloud, but before Diamond could get a hold of him he jumped in the air. He jumped extremely high up, up to where its head was. Cloud raised his sword and hit the Weapon with multiple slash attacks coming from his sword. The Weapon went backwards and Cloud fell to the ground. Cid's cannon's were charged and he signaled for his crew to fire them. Cloud landed on the ground and ran from Diamond.

"Come on everyone; get out of the way of the cannons!" Cloud screamed.

Everyone got out of the way of ho was completely oblivious to the fact that there were seven massive lasers coming its way. The lasers shot through all parts of it and the massive Weapon fell to the ground. Everyone stopped running and looked at Diamond Weapon. It began to twitch a few times and then there was another explosion. Dust went everywhere at a very high speed; everyone shielded their eyes from it.

Finally the dust and smoke cleared from the area, and the land had a massive hole in it. There was no sign of Diamond Weapon, everything was at peace again. Everyone began to cheer.

Tifa looked at Cloud and blushed; she still felt like a complete failure. She felt almost unworthy of him. She began to walk back toward Midgar.

"Everyone come to 7th Heaven and I'll get everyone fixed up." Tifa called out.

It then dawned on Tifa that Cirrus was still there, unconscious, she had forgotten she left her there alone. She gasped and ran as fast as she could back to 7th Heaven.

"Hey Tifa wait up!" Yuffie called out "What's her problem?"

"Wait, where if Cirrus?" Cloud asked. "Wait Tifa!" He ran after her to 7th Heaven.

-----

Tifa made it back to 7th Heaven before anyone else could figure out where she was going. She hurried to the room she left Cirrus at, and she sighed in relief.

"Good, she's still here…" Tifa checked to make sure she was all right; she looked like a little baby sleeping. "Thank goodness nothing happened to you…"

Tifa looked at Cirrus but she was so far from that moment. All she could think about was Cloud. All her hopes and dreams of being with him and having a family with him, were they all gone?

"I wonder if he would really trade me for Aeris…?"

Cloud stood there in the doorway quietly. Tifa couldn't see that he was there; he back was facing the door. He leaned against the side of the doorway and looked at his "daughter."

"What am I going to tell Cloud?" She laughed at herself. "Yeah sorry I had to leave her here, yeah she summoned Diamond Weapon, and I had to protect her from that!" She put her head on the blanket. "Yeah Cloud, thanks for saving me and killing Diamond Weapon, by the way you're daughter is the Black Materia…"

"What?" Cloud spoke out finally.

"Cloud!?" Tifa turned around quickly "We're you here the whole time?"

"Yes Tifa, I heard it all."

Tifa went silent and looked at Cirrus. She was a loss of what to do, she didn't even know what to say; she wasn't sure Cloud would even believe her.

"Tifa, what happened to Cirrus?"

"Cloud, Red and Vincent were doing some research, and they found out that she holds the Black Materia… no she is the Black Materia." She looked into Cloud's Mako Blue eyes. She could get lost just looking into them. She stumbled back into her sentence. "They had told me that it is possible that she is…"

"Is what?" Cloud questioned

Tifa remained silent, looking for the right way to say this to him.

"Tifa…"

"She's one of Sephiorth's puppets!" Tifa finally let out. "There I said it."

"Why is she unconscious?"

"She summoned Diamond Weapon out of no where, and then…"

"Tifa calm down, I don't doubt you. The girl is really mysterious, anything could have happened." Cloud paused walked up to her. He held her chin and made her look at him. "I shouldn't have left you here alone."

Tifa's eyes widened, she felt as though he cared about her. She never felt this vibe from him before, or at least for a very long time. He was looking at her like he would look at Aeris.

"Cloud…"

"Tifa, I want you to come with me, I want to show you something in the Forgotten City."

Tifa took his hand off her chin and held it. "What about Cirrus, she's unconscious..."

"Look, I found something in the Forgotten City that could be the key to what this is all about. I found the frozen entity."

"Should we bring Cirrus?" Tifa asked.

"Yes, I believe she is the key to this entity that I found, maybe we can find something about…"

"Aeris?" Tifa interrupted. "You really think she could be alive somewhere?"

Cloud nodded.

"Then why do you want me to go?" Tifa began to tear up, as if the moment she just had with him never happened.

"Because I shouldn't have left you here in the first place… It will be better if we wake Cirrus up when we get there, I don't want to wake her just yet."

"I still don't understand why I…"

"Please Tifa, do it for me…." Cloud interrupted.

The door opened and the rest of the team came in calling for Tifa and Cloud. Yuffie walked into the doorway and looked at Cloud and Tifa together.

"Oh what's going on here?" Yuffie giggled.

The light from the sunset was coming through the window and it looked so beautiful. The lights hadn't been on; it went perfect with the half dark room. Cloud let go of Tifa's hand and dropped his head and put it over Tifa's shoulder. Tifa's heart skipped a beat.

"Don't worry about it; I'll go by myself…" Cloud whispered.

Tifa bit her lip. "No… I'll go with you. Just wait until everyone leaves…"

"What are you two talking about?" Yuffie asked.

"Hey, you look pretty beat up Yuffie, why don't you come with me to the first aid room." Tifa walked out of the doorway and Cloud stood there and watched them leave. He turned around and looked at his so called "daughter."

"I'll get to the bottom of this Cirrus."

-----

Tifa carried Cirrus to the Airship Cloud got ready for all of them. She set Cirrus down on the bed in the one room the Airship had and went to sit next to Cloud.

"Ready?"

"Yes… I'm ready Cloud."

The Airship took off and it was a long ride to the Forgotten City. Tifa looked out the window, her elbow was on the window and she held her chin up. Cloud glanced over at her.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked.

"I'm just still in pain from the battle…"

"Do you need some help?"

"No I'll be fine."

Cloud sighed and looked straight ahead.

"You didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to."

"No Cloud, I wanted to."

They finally arrived at the Forgotten City, and Cloud landed the Airship. He took them to the spot where he found the frozen entity and stopped.

"Where is it? I don't see a thing…"

"Watch this." Cloud held up the holy materia and the frozen entity appeared as it did before.

"Oh my goodness!" Tifa set Cirrus down on the ground leaning her against a tree and walked around the frozen crystal. "What does this have to do with Cirrus?"

"I'm not sure, but I know its something since the Holy materia activated the appearance of it."

Tifa went over to Cirrus and shook her gently "Cirrus wake up."

Cirrus opened her eyes after a long sleep and looked around.

"Where am I?" She looked back and forth and at the frozen crystal in front of her. "Am I back in the Forgotten City?"

"Do you know what this is Cirrus?" Tifa looked into her eyes.

"No I don't." Cirrus stood up and walked toward it. She examined it with her eyes as she walked toward it and then she came to a sudden, complete stop.

"Cirrus what's wrong?" Tifa ran to her.

Her eyes were glowing again, but this time she seemed aware of what she was doing. She looked at her hands and turned around to face Tifa and Cloud. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she began to fade.

"Cirrus!" Cloud ran to her and tried to grab her, but by that time Cirrus had completely disappeared. Cloud stood there helplessly; in the position he was in when he tried to grab her. Both Tifa and Cloud were wide eyed.

Cloud stood up and looked at Tifa who was still looking where Cirrus was.

"_Cloud."_

"Who said that?" Cloud looked around him frantically.

"_You came.." _

"Cloud, what's going on!?" Tifa cried.

The frozen crystal began to glow and lightning struck everywhere. Cloud jumped onto Tifa trying to protect her from anything that could stroke her. Everything was worse than before when he came her alone; it was lightning like crazy and wind was blowing everywhere.

"Cloud!"

"Tifa don't worry, I promise I will protect you!" Cloud closed his eyes tight.

"No Cloud look!" Tifa pointed at the crystal.

Everything began to slow down and Cloud rolled over beside Tifa and looked at the crystal with her. There seemed to be a vortex right on it.

"What do you think it is?" Tifa asked Cloud

"I'm not sure… I'm going to find out though."

-----

A/N: Woot Chapter 4. I hope you enjoyed it. I know if you like this story you will really enjoy this next chapter. So go on ahead to Chapter 5 :P. Oh yeah, sorry for the wait 

SpikeStutters


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7. I do hope they remake it though 

**Cirrus of the Cetra**

By: SpikeStutters

**Chapter 5: The Plot Thickens**

The Vortex had appeared on the Crystal. Cloud and Tifa were debating on whether or not they should use it. Was it safe enough to go through it? Did they have a choice? Cloud began to walk toward it.

"Wait Cloud!" Tifa yelled out "What if it's a trap? It might not be safe!"

"Tifa, I need to find Cirrus, and if she needs saved, I need to save her."

"But Cloud…"

"Tifa I'm going in!" Cloud ran into the portal.

"Wait up!" Tifa followed close behind them.

As she ran into it, it looked as though the lightning was going to hit her. She went into the portal and closed her eyes tight shielding them from anything that she could see. She opened her eyes and she was in a completely different place, a dark, destroyed place.

"Cloud, where are we?"

"I'm not sure." Cloud looked straight ahead. "It definitely doesn't look pretty. We should keep moving."

Tifa agreed and followed Cloud straight ahead. She looked around and the sky was red as though it was on fire. Everything was so dark and gloomy. Tifa looked to her sides and she could see families hiding under ripped blankets and around fires. Everyone had weapons with them, yet no one seemed to notice Tifa and Cloud were walking through.

"I wonder what city this is..." Tifa asked quietly. "I have never seen anything so run down in my life."

"I don't know actually. It might be a hidden city within the crystal."

Cloud and Tifa stopped and Cirrus stood before them.

"Cirrus you're alright!" Tifa said with relief. "Is this where you live?"

"Cirrus, do you want to come back with us?" Cloud asked.

"Please follow me." Cirrus turned around and ran to a house into the distance.

Tifa and Cloud followed Cirrus to a house with flowers planted to one side of it. Cloud stopped and looked at them curiously. He found it quite odd that everything else here looked so dead, yet there were some half alive flowers near the house.

"Cirrus where are you taking us? And how do you know where this is?" Tifa asked

"Don't you get it, she brought me here!"

Cloud and Tifa followed her into the broken doorway, the whole house was torn apart it seemed. It was a real slum. Cloud walked into some room that looked like a kitchen and stopped in his tracks, as if he had suddenly become paralyzed. If Cloud had been holding something, he would have dropped it. Tifa walked into the room and she got a similar reaction that made her stop.

Cirrus wrapped her arms around the person's legs. The hand patted Cirrus on the head.

"I see you brought him to me, thank you."

Cirrus smiled and ran off to another room, as if she knew exactly where she was.

"It's…Its impossible. It can't be!" Cloud reached out and walked toward the person.

Tifa remained in place, she really didn't know what to do this time; she had thought it was impossibility herself.

"Aeris…" Cloud put his hands on her cheeks and she put her hands on his.

"Yes, I thought you would never come." Aeris smiled.

"I don't understand though, I thought you were dead." Cloud almost began to cry.

Aeris looked at Cloud with seriousness. There was a look of fear in her eyes; she looked as though there was not enough time in the world. Aeris let out a short sigh and got ready to speak.

"Cloud, you are not where you think you are. Physically it is impossible for you even to be here."

"Why is that? Oh did I die, and is this the Lifestream?"

"No, you are far from dead. Well actually you died a long time ago, six years ago to be exact."

Cloud looked at her with confusion. "How did I die 6 years ago?"

"Listen, let's go sit down somewhere."

Aeris lead Cloud and Tifa into a room that looked like a living room, and they all sat down on opposite chairs.

"You're probably confused as to where you are and why I am alive." Aeris started

"How did you survive? I mean why didn't you ever come back to us if you were alive?" Tifa asked.

"You're misunderstanding. Let me explain." Aeris looked at Cloud. "This is not the same universe as the one you came from."

Cloud and Tifa looked at her, still completely confused.

Aeris looked at them and wondered how they would react to this. "You two have stumbled upon the parallel dimension of your planet."

Tifa and Cloud looked at one another.

"Let me explain. Remember the Black Materia? We got it out of the Temple. Let's start from that point…"

"What about it?" Cloud asked still wondering what this had to do with anything.

"When the Black Materia was released from the Temple and Alternate Universe was created from it. Two fates of the planet began from there…"

"I still don't understand." Cloud commented.

"Listen… I'll start with the fate of your planet, now just ask questions later and I'll explain now. The Black Materia made two fates for this planet. In your world you gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth, I died so I could summon Holy, Sephiroth summoned Meteor and the Weapons, and you defeated him after a long mental and physical journey."

Tifa and Cloud nodded, still completely confused.

"Now let me tell you what happened in this dimension. When you were retrieving the Black Materia, Sephiroth tried to control you, but you were able to fight it. Instead of giving the materia to Sephiroth you threw it to me. The materia disappeared and Sephiroth used that opportunity to kill you right then and there."

"So let me get this straight. You lived and I died in this world?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, and there is more. I watched helplessly as he killed you, stabbing you with his the Masamune Blade. He came to me and asked me where the Black Materia was. He held me against a wall and threatened to kill me, and then realized that the Black Materia was inside of me… Inside of the child I was pregnant with."

"Cirrus… So you are the mother of her." Cloud stated

"And you are the father."

Tifa dropped her head and looked at the ground. She squeezed her knee caps, trying to hold in her tears.

"For some reason that day, he didn't kill me. I couldn't understand it at the time, and then when I found out that I was pregnant I realized where the Black Materia went, but it was still confusing. Sephiroth knew this and I was running from him for a very long time. They wanted to conduct experiments on me to see what happened to the Black Materia."

"Didn't the rest of the team help you?" Tifa looked up. "What happened to us?"

"They died protecting me from Sephiroth." Aeris began to tear up. "I was in hiding for a very long time. First he killed Cid, then Vincent, and then Barret. Then after a couple of months he killed Cait Sith and Red." She looked at Tifa. "You and Yuffie protected me too. One of the last times I saw Sephiroth, you stayed behind to fend him off, and Yuffie brought me here to have the baby. I couldn't run anymore, it was too close to the time. Tifa, you were never able to make it back. Yuffie went looking for you for a couple of days and finally found your body. She came back and told me she gave you… the Tifa that lived in this world a proper burial."

Tifa was in shock. It looked like Aeris was having a hard time telling this story to Tifa and Cloud. Tears seemed to fill up in her eyes as she talked. She looked out what used to be a window and sighed. She also seemed like she was telling them in a rush, like there was bigger things out there that needed to be done.

"Yuffie, she delivered the baby. I named her Cirrus after Cloud because I missed him so much. Cloud, I wish you could have been there."

"I wished you were there for me a lot of times…" Cloud said quietly.

"Yuffie was able to stay alive for a short time after Cirrus was born. Everything seemed to be alright for a while. Or so we thought…"

"What broke the calm?" Tifa asked.

"Everything was calm until there was word from the people in this village that Sephiroth was close, or some army working for President Rufus and Sephiroth. We had passed ourselves through as different names since everyone knew the names of us, and if anyone knew who we were they would turn us in."

"Wait how is Rufus involved?" Cloud asked

"Oh yeah… I should explain that. Every worker in the Shinra building is controlled by Sephiroth, even the president. After we heard the word that there was an army looking for us Yuffie went to investigate." Aeris paused again, as though all of this was way too painful to say. "She went to investigate and never returned. I'm assuming they caught her, possibly tortured her and killed her. It's been five years since I saw her last. I think she would have gotten away by now, so I can only hope they're not torturing her and she had a quick death."

"That's terrible, are you positive she is dead?" Tifa asked

"I really don't have any way of knowing. If Sephiroth gets a hold of me it is over for this planet."

"What does he want with you?" Tifa asked

"Since Cirrus was born, he's been searching for me to get information out of me and kill me. I'm actually surprised he hasn't found me here yet."

"I guess it's a good hiding place…" Cloud said quietly

"Yes, I sent her over to your world so Sephiroth wouldn't realize his dream."

Tifa began to interrupt "So wait, how did Cirrus get to our dimension and how did you know about us?" Tifa shook her head rapidly.

"I knew it wouldn't be safe for Cirrus to remain on this side of the Planet. I wanted her to be safe. During the time she was a baby I had mastered the White Materia, and I was able to see into your dimension. So I know everything that went on. At this Point Cirrus was a couple months old. I experimented with the essence of the Black Materia coming from Cirrus and the White Materia I had. Finally I found out a way to send Cirrus to your dimension. When put together the White and Black Materia can split dimensions. You see the Black Materia is not only the magic of Meteor but can split one world into two fates. The Black Materia alone can't send someone to the other side, but combined with the White Materia, it is pretty powerful. I used the power of the White and Black Materia to open up the portal to your world. I hoped that she would be safe there."

"Did you write this note then?" Tifa took it out of her pocket.

Aeris looked at it. "Yes! I left that note with her and sent her to your dimension." She paused "How did you get that?"

"Cirrus had it; she said the person that took her in gave her the letter."

Cloud sat in silence.

"So you sent her to our world hoping that Sephiroth would never find her there." Tifa stated

"Right, but there was one thing I didn't know about until I sent her over. From watching her as a little baby to now I realized that she was threat to your world."

"Yeah, she summoned Diamond Weapon into our world!" Tifa nodded her head.

"I was really afraid that when Sephiroth returned for a second time four years ago that he would find her and use the Black Materia inside of her to do something terrible to your world."

"So you are able to see into our dimension with the Mastered white Materia?" Tifa asked.

"Correct. I'm really sorry that I troubled you and your team with another Diamond Weapon."

"Its alright, you were just trying to help your daughter…"

"So Sephiroth is alive here?" Cloud walked towards what looked like a broken window.

"Yes, it is impossible for anyone here to kill him." Aeris sighed. "I wish I could do something to him, he took away everyone from me."

"I'm here now so you don't have to worry." Cloud held her hand.

"Cloud it's been so long since I saw you last…" Aeris starred into his Mako Blue eyes.

"Same here." Cloud looked back deeply into her eyes.

Tifa watched in silence. This is what Cloud wants she thought. What if he wanted to stay in this dimension with Aeris, his true love? This would be the best for him. He loved Aeris not her. Tifa began to tear up and she looked away from them.

"I don't belong here…" Tifa whispered. She stood up and walked out of the room. Cloud watched in the corner of his eye. He looked over at her.

"Wait Tifa!" Cloud let go of Aeris's hand.

"Cloud, I want to ask you something." Aeris interrupted.

"What is it?"

"Do you ever think about that night we had together? I mean back then, these worlds were the same world, so technically I am the same Aeris and you are the same Cloud."

Cloud's eyes began to swell with tears. He was looking somewhere else but Aeris and she could tell he was thinking about it.

"I always think about that night with you; it was the last night we had together before Sephiroth killed you… Well I guess for you it would be before he killed me."

There was a silence.

"That was all I could think about these long six years." Aeris said to him quietly and hugged him.

"Aeris I have a question for you." Cloud adjusted her so he could look into her eyes. "When I told you I loved you, you never responded. You didn't do all of that out of pity did you?"

Aeris's eyes began to fill up. "I really wish I had told you that I loved you that night."

"Aeris…" Cloud grabbed her and held her in his arms again, just like that one night they had together at the Gold Saucer.

"Cloud as much as I'd love this moment to last forever, I need to ask you of a huge favor."

"What is it?"

"I'm worried about the safety of my daughter and myself. As long as Sephiroth is alive he will stop at nothing to find where we are."

"_I think it's too late for that!"_

Both Cloud and Aeris looked out the doorway and there he was, Sephiroth in the flesh, holding his Masamune. Laughing like he did when he had killed Aeris in Cloud's world.

"I Think I have won." Sephiroth held up their daughter and laughed harder.

"Cirrus!" Aeris reached out for her.

Cloud looked at the blade and there was blood on it. It could have been anyone's blood, but he had a bad feeling about this one.

"What did you do to Tifa!?"

"I guess you'll have to find out Cloud. How Ironic, I thought I killed you. I guess I'll have to kill you again sometime so neither of the Dimensions will have a Cloud. I may even take that side too. Oh the possibilities with this little girl. HAHA!"

"If you lay a finger on her!" Aeris screamed.

Cloud took out his Ultima Weapon and ran toward Sephiroth. It was too late; he laughed in his face and disappeared into the air.

"Damnit!" Cloud screamed and ran into the room where Tifa was. "Tifa! Oh no please Tifa!"

Tifa was on the ground bleeding from her abdomen. Cloud knelt next to her and held her face.

"No please Tifa!"

Tifa opened her teary eyes.

"I'm sorry; I'm such a failure Cloud. I couldn't protect her." Tifa ran her hand down Cloud's face. The tears started running down his cheeks.

"No no… shhhh… I won't let him take your life too." Cloud looked at his childhood friend and tried to hold back from crying out loud.

"Be strong." Tifa looked into his Mako Blue eyes. Her head fell to the side and she laid lifelessly on the ground.

"No Tifa!" Cloud held her close to him and started crying out loud. "I shouldn't have gotten you involved!"

Aeris stood there in the doorway as she watched him hold his childhood friend. His heart was pounding, half rage half fear of losing Tifa. He would be completely lost without Tifa; he would go nuts again without her. If it wasn't for her he wouldn't have recovered from his coma, he wouldn't have found himself. If he let her die, he would be abandoning her and everything she had done for him.

-----

A/N: The plot definitely thickens. So what is going to happen to Cirrus? A better question is what will happen to Tifa? Will she survive this or will Cloud lose another loved one to Sephiroth.

I don't know if the plot twist was good or not. I know all of you weren't expecting any of that to happen. So please review and tell me what you think. There will be plenty more surprises to come in the next few chapters. Expect the unexpected.

I hope you enjoyed these last two chapters; hopefully I'll be quick on the next one. Until next time

-SpikeStutters


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7; that would be Square Enix.**

_a/n: Oh my gosh! SHE UPDATED. Enjoy. It took a lot of brainstorming to come up with this one haha. OBVIOUSLY! How long has it been since I updated? Three years! A lot of outside influence has happened since then? Whatever shall I do? _

**Cirrus of the Cetra**

By SpikeStutters

**Chapter 6: Mental Candy**

Cloud held his childhood friend, trying to hold back his tears. This couldn't be happening, first he lost Aeris from his world, and now he was going to lose Tifa. Aeris stood in the doorway, blankly staring at Tifa as if she were reliving the memory of the last time she saw the Tifa from her world. Cloud quickly but gently moved Tifa over to the torn couch on the other side of the room. Tifa began to moan in pain as she opened her eyes.

"Tifa" Cloud said in astonishment.

"Cloud, you have to go save Cirrus, or else everything this world and our world will be destroyed." Tifa said as she put pressure on her abdomen. She whimpered and put her head back in pain.

"I can't leave you here." Cloud whispered trying to stop the tears from rolling down his face. "We have to do something… I can't do this without you."

"Cloud, please… be strong" She lifted her hand so her finger could catch one of the tears he shed.

Aeris pursed her lips and knelt next to the couch. "Leave Tifa with me; her wound is life threatening, but there is a good chance I can heal it."

Cloud glanced at Aeris, and then back at Tifa, his head dangling forward, "What do you want me to do then?"

"Go save Cirrus." A green light started to form around her hands as she approached Tifa. "Leave the healing to me ok."

Cloud nodded his head. Aeris had always been good with healing in battle; he had to trust her to help Tifa. He picked up Ultima Weapon and nodded to the two women. Aeris nodded back, and Cloud ran out of the building following Sephiroth's aura of power, and the aura coming from Cirrus.

Sephiroth and Cirrus's aura had lead Cloud to the Shinra building. Cloud looked at it in awe. He hadn't seen the building in one piece in years, not since Diamond weapon destroyed it. In this world not only was the building in one piece, it was bursting with Mako energy from all angles. Cloud wondered whether it was because of the black materia, or if it was always like that in this world. He then thought absently about whether or not all the weapons had been awoken from their slumber in the Northern Crater. He shivered at the thought of those beasts still existing. He shook himself out of it, and began to contemplate how to get through. He could always take the direct approach like he did last time he fought through the long tower, but he also had two other people with him, not to mention there is no telling what he is up against now. Yeah, he was stronger than back then for sure, but the uncertainty held him back. He didn't have time to think about it, he was the only one who could save Cirrus at this point, in a way, somehow, both worlds was counting on him.

If he didn't stop this world's Sephiroth, he would find a way to destroy both his world, and this world. He couldn't let Aeris's death go in vein. His hands trembled as he grabbed the sword from the sheath it was resting in. For some reason he felt a sense of helplessness, as though he was about to relive something he put behind him. It was as if his uncertainty and confusion came back from when he was convinced that he was Zach.

"_Zach…"_ Cloud thought absently again. He hadn't thought about him at all in this ordeal. So why did he suddenly come across his mind.

Cloud closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. He needed to save Cirrus.

To Cloud's surprise there was no one waiting for him in the Shinra building. In fact it was completely vacant. Cloud took a look around the bottom floor, reassuring he was the only being inside the building, or at least this part of the building. It was funny how the building looked almost exactly the same as when he broke into it to save Aeris. He never thought he would be going through here to save Aeris's daughter. It was almost like déjàvu. He ran up the steps and to the elevator. He had no idea where Sephiroth was, but he had a guess. HE must be in the President's office.

Then a thought struck him: where were the Turks? Where was the whole Shinra hierarchy? He had been informed that they assisted Sephiroth in killing the rest of AVALANCE, so shouldn't they be around. It seemed a bit off that no one as chasing him, or had a gun to his head. He was an unauthorized person in a building that there was no way he could ever be authorized to be in, not even in his own world. Something was definitely off about the place. He pushed the elevator button, and the door immediately opened, as if someone left it on that floor, or it was waiting for him. He peeked into the elevator hesitantly.

"Sephiroth, you separated me and Aeris from each other, you killed Aeris in my world, and me in this one. I will not let you get away with any of this." Cloud spoke out loud as if Sephiroth could hear him, his look turning stern and determined. "You will pay for what you did" He then stepped into the elevator confidently.

The door closed and to his surprise it went all the way up to the top floor. That was definitely a new addition since the last time he went through the building. He was about to push the button for the top floor, but it turned on himself. Cloud knew then it was a trap, not that he didn't suspect it anyway. He had his sword out, ready for anything that would come rushing through the elevator doors or crashing through the outside of the glass elevator.

"Never thought I would have to deal with you again" Sephiroth said bitterly. "I thought that the only two people I had to get rid of were the Ancient and her daughter."

Cloud looked around and there was no trace of Sephiroth anywhere. He was talking to him in the way he used to before, through his mind.

"What you think you can just trap me in an elevator and kill me? That's low, not anything like the Sephiroth I knew" Cloud provoked out loud

"Hahaha… Who said I was going to kill you?" Sephiroth snickered "Here I was under the impression you were dead, but alas here you are." Sephiroth's laugh echoed throughout the elevator as it started to move up.

"I've beaten you before, twice as a matter of fact, and I will do it however many times it takes to finally be rid of you." Cloud looked around the elevator and glared at the camera recording him. "Show yourself you coward!"

"In good time, we shall see each other in person, but I think I want to have fun with you for a bit. Accomplish things that my other half got the opportunity to dig into…" Sephiroth's laugh continued

"_Have fun with me?" _

Cloud continued to stare at the camera and his vision began to blur. He put his free hand out in front of him to see it go in and out of focus. He began to sweat, and the ringing in his ears began to happen making his sword hit the ceramic tile of the elevator. Sephiroth was trying to take control of his mind. He could feel the terrible emotions chemically rushing through his brain. He began to tremble as he looked back and forth. He felt as though the geostigma had taken over his body all over again. He fell to his knees, his mind trying to snap out of it, the bullets of sweat falling from his forehead. He was too far gone. Everything blacked out. He was just too weak to handle it.

"_Cloud I'm searching for you." _

"But I'm right here…" Cloud unknowingly began to speak out loud.

"_At first it bothered me how alike you were" _It was as if the scene in his head re-wound.

His brain switched to a different scene.

"_The way you move, your gestures, you're just like him…" _

Cloud sat on the elevator floor with his knees up and looked at the elevator ceiling in a glassy daze.

"_You have the same exact eyes." _

Cloud shook his head, and a tear drops fell onto the floor. "Zach… I thought I was you during that whole time." Cloud shook his head and held it "No, I was myself as well. No I was different… But I thought I was you!"

"Yes, isn't it interesting you developed the same feelings for your best friend's girlfriend?" Sephiroth said through Cloud's mind. Cloud looked straight ahead of him, as though he was about to break. "So what do you take from this realization Cloud?"

"Are you saying…really? Are you saying…that the only reason… the only reason I developed feelings for Aeris was because…I thought I was Zach…and I knew instinctively… from his stories… that she was his?"

"Exactly"

"No…I've been through this self realization already. I'm not going to buy into your tricks." Cloud shook his head "Get out of my head damnit!" Cloud pounded both of his fists onto the ground and shook his head wildly bringing his hand back to hold his head.

The ringing stopped, and Cloud's vision came back. The elevator door opened two floors from the top. Cloud grabbed his sword and struggled to stand. His knees trembled as his regained balance and the rest of his eye sight. He made his way through the elevator doors and looked at the stairwell. Sephiroth would be waiting for him on the top floor. Of course he wouldn't let the elevator open where he waits; no he wasn't done with him yet. He began to walk toward the stairwell.

"Are you really sure of your feelings for her?" Sephiroth started again.

"I really advise you to stop it!"

"No Cloud, maybe you should stop it. Did you really love her? Or was it that you thought you were Zach?" Sephiroth growled

"I know what I felt!" Cloud shouted. "I…know…what…I…felt…" Cloud whispered

"Who are you kidding Cloud?"

"Myself." Cloud whispered

"You're really just a puppet created by Hojo" Sephiroth paused waiting for a response "Whatever you felt for her doesn't matter, because it wasn't _real_."

"No!" Cloud Screamed

Sephiroth began to laugh hysterically. He thoroughly enjoyed messing with this boy's brain.

"You are wrong! You can't use the same trick twice!" The look on Cloud's face became stern again. "You will not tell me what I was feeling was something I made up. You tried that with me in MY world with my past with Tifa!" _"Tifa" _

There was a silence. Cloud kept walking.

"Perhaps we should re-evaluate the feelings Aeris had for you." Sephiroth's voice echoed though Cloud's head.

Cloud glared up at the ceiling, wishing he would just fight him physically and not mentally. His mental state was his weakness, and even this Sephiroth knew it.

"You have no Idea what I'm talking about?" Sephiroth laughed his sinister laugh again. "Did it occur to you that perhaps the only reason the chemistry between you two was so strong because you reminded her of Zach?"

Cloud stopped walking and stared ahead, taking in what he just said, speechless to the proposal.

"Yes, you can deny the fact that the only reason you loved Aeris was because it was the person Zach left behind, but how can you ever prove her feelings were exclusive to you?"

Clouds eyes widened, "Stop it! You don't know anything!"

"I believe I do" Sephiroth snickered knowing that he brought something new into the mix "You reminded her of Zach, she even said that to you on multiple occasions."

"_At first it bothered me that you two were so alike." _

Cloud looked ahead absently, seeing the memory of their date at the Gold Saucer. He was in the Gondola, he was with his former self and Aeris, reliving the fond memory, or at least what he thought to be. He looked at himself, ashamed of how he acted, how he copied Zach in every conceivable way. He closed his eyes and shook his head, wanting to leave the memory. He opened them and he was still reliving it. He turned his head to look at Aeris, and her expression was sad from the way she was talking about Zach.

"No…" Cloud backed away "Stop implanting memories in my head. This is just an illusion"

"I'm not implanting memories. What I have shown you is reality, what you remember, that is the illusion."

Cloud was able to exit the memory from the phrase that had been used on him once before.

"No, I won't believe you." Cloud's glassy daze turned back into his normal stare. "You can't use the same tricks on me twice."

Before Cloud was able to gain his control back another memory came back to him.

It was when the children were curing themselves of the geostigma in the water in the church. He wasn't looking at his old self in this memory, he was his old self. He looked up and saw the image of Aeris kneeling in front of a child, standing up, and walking toward the door. Zach leaned against the wall waiting for Aeris to come back. Aeris turned around.

"_See? Everything is…alright." _Aeris smiled at him and turned to walk toward Zach

The memory paused, making everyone and everything stay in place. Cloud got out of where he was in the water in the church and ran toward Aeris and Zach, trying to grab Aeris's shoulder. When he got there everything dissipated. Cloud stood there with his arms loosely at his sides.

"Now in your world, if she really loved you why didn't she stay to make sure _you_ were alright?"

Cloud glared at the ceiling

"In fact she seemed pretty anxious to get back to her real lover. The person she constantly compared you to!" Sephiroth said sternly.

"No you can't do this!" Cloud was determined "I know what I felt! I know what she felt…" Cloud said feeling unsure of his words.

There was a silence. Instead of blacking out this time, his vision began to white out.

Cloud was speechless again as another vision of his past came to him. This time it was too tender of a moment to bear. It was when he and Aeris were together in the Gold Saucer bed, facing each other. The white sheets covered her exposed flesh. Cloud laid there with his hand on his head, his arm supporting his position. He couldn't ruin this memory, he just couldn't.

"Aeris…" Cloud's eyes began to tear up. He didn't want to be so vulnerable to this. He had to hold back. Whatever Sephiroth was doing to this memory it was untrue.

Then he saw something, a memory that actually did happen. Aeris put her hand on Cloud's face and a tear drop slid onto the pillow. At the he did understand then what the tear was for because of the conversation earlier.

"_Are you sure you never met him while you were in Soldier?" _

"_The name doesn't ring a bell I'm sorry. I wish I could keep you in the moment, but this really bothers you." _

Cloud couldn't help but stare at the memory. His former self sighed, and he looked compassionately at Aeris with his Mako blue eyes.

"_I won't be able to replace him, but I will do everything I can to have a place in your heart." _

"_You already have a place in my heart." _Aeris closed her eyes, _"Even though at first I thought you were the same as him, and looked for similarities." _She paused,_ "Later I noticed the differences, and began to search for the real you. I fell in love with Cloud, not someone I thought he resembled." _

Both Cloud's formal self and Aeris brought out a smile, and they both began to laugh. Cloud wiped away Aeris's tears.

Cloud waited for Sephiroth to implant a false memory into his vision, but it passed, and his vision returned to him. He stared ahead questionably, waiting for another memory to form in his mind. There was nothing. He could hear Sephiroth's laugh from the above floor. HE was getting ready to attack him mentally again. Then Cloud heard her voice.

"_Cloud, you know what you felt for me, and you know what I felt for you, don't forget that memory." _

"Sephiroth, you're finished! You can't control my thoughts anymore, I know the truth!" Cloud rushed up the steps in an attacking stance.

He broke through the door to the President's office to find a chair facing the looking out into the city of Midgar. Cloud walked up the front desk and leaned on it.

"Sephiroth, show yourself!" Cloud banged his fists on the desk.

There was no response, just the sight of the chair rocking back and forth. Cloud being completely fed up with the situation took the liberty to jump over the President's large shiny green desk to get in range of the chair. He got his sword ready and kicked the chair so the person who was sitting in it would face him.

To his surprise it was Cirrus. She wasn't tied up or anything, in fact she was sitting there in a glassy daze. Before Cloud could turn around and look around the rest of the office a sword punctured him and pierced the chair. His vision became blurry as he looked at the all too familiar bloody masamune. He heard Cirrus scream, and it wasn't a scream of fear, it was a scream of unbearable pain.

_a/n: This update took way too long. The next chapter will be the last, I promise. Is this the end for Cloud? Are the mind games really over? Is Cloud really a hundred percent sure of his feelings for Aeris and vice versa? Above all things, will Cloud be able to survive a stab from Sephiroth's sword? What happened to Cirrus? Will Sephiroth get away? Find out in the final chapter of Cirrus of the Cetra._

_Hopefully to be posted earlier than three years from now XD. I promise. _

SpikeStutters


End file.
